ProTurf, been following your thread for a while now. Impressive to say the least, well done. I'm just wondering (and have been for a while) did you buy and existing LCO or did you buy all of the equipment/shop separately(in the first few pics on this thread 2005). Thats all. Thanks.

Thank for the Kudos TriCity! Never bought out another LCO...bought everything separately

What doest your 550 weigh? The shop I bought doesn't have high enough ceilings to put in a lift, but if/when I build another one a lift is high on the list of priorities. I ask because when I had the tranny put in my 350 diesel dump my buddy who did it had to take it to another shop with a bigger lift. Mine with a 10' stainless salter weighs 10 or 11k, cant remember for sure been weighing it with v plow and salter lately.

Stroker...i'm unsure of what the tare weight is on the 550. One of the guys at work is pretty good with that stuff. I'll try to ask him this week & get back to you.

Pro turf,
hey man i was wondering how you paid yourself with a company of ur size do you put your self on the payroll and cut your self a check every week like ur employees? or do you check take watevers left after expenses have been paid? if so how long did you go before you had to put ur self on the payroll? I just get to keep whats left so far but this year my cpa advised me to put my self on my payroll not for a lot but like 15-16 per hour. i was just curious thanks !!

The bigger one is going in my pickup & the smaller one is going on one of our bobcat trailers...it's going to be gravity fed, no pump. The bigger one is already installed...I'll have to get some pictures up this week. They are so handy to have! Save a ton of time & trips to the gas station for your crews.

took me over four hours but im finally done reading this thread! read every word... sometimes twice to make sure i got it! and i just want to say wow i want to end up just like you are now no bigger no smaller... thanks for taking the time to keep coming back to update and provide advice/help you have answered a lot of my questions and hopefully i can put some of your tactics into effect this year

Matt,

Glad to hear you enjoyed reading everything. If you ever have any questions fire them my way & I'll give you my opinion...

I've been following your thread for a couple years now...everything looks great you have built yourself a great business. One thing I notice about you and a lot of others that have achieved great success is that you all started at a very young age. I really wish I would have done that rather than go to school for 6 years, get 2 degrees and not be using any of them and now having to pay back student loans.How old were you when you started, and how old are you now, if you don't mind me asking.

I've been following your thread for a couple years now...everything looks great you have built yourself a great business. One thing I notice about you and a lot of others that have achieved great success is that you all started at a very young age. I really wish I would have done that rather than go to school for 6 years, get 2 degrees and not be using any of them and now having to pay back student loans.How old were you when you started, and how old are you now, if you don't mind me asking.

Mike...thank you for the kudos...glad to hear you've been following the thread. I am 29 years old. I had been mowing lawns in the neighborhood since I was a teenager but I didn't actually buy my first commercial mower (Scag 48" w/b) until 2001. So I didn't really get started until I was 20 years old & even for those next few years it was just something to do to help pay for my college instead of working a minimum wage job. It wasn't until my senior year in college when I made the decision that I'd stick with the landscaping once I was done school instead of going out and finding a "real job". I love this industry...there are so many avenues you can take to expand your business & keep things interesting.

I'm assuming you run Windows on your computers, so I would go with something like Adobe Premier. It's middle-of-the-road cost-wise and can do a lot more than you probably will ever know what to do with.

If you run Mac, I would highly recommend Final Cut Pro, but that one will run you $900-$1200. HOWEVER, Final Cut also has a simpler version for I think around $300 called Final Cut Express, which would probably suit your needs just fine and be a lot less expensive.

The bigger one is going in my pickup & the smaller one is going on one of our bobcat trailers...it's going to be gravity fed, no pump. The bigger one is already installed...I'll have to get some pictures up this week. They are so handy to have! Save a ton of time & trips to the gas station for your crews.

Totally agree. And if you buy your diesel from the gas station you can buy in bulk when the price is lower.

__________________
Every job is a self portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence."

What is your opinion on Kubotas' line of ZD mowers? We have been operating with Kubota Zd's and we find they are a great machine' however, they are a bit expensive. I am thinking about looking at an Exmark diesel, slighly cheaper then a Kubota but just as good of a cut.

What are you using for edgers? Are you using powered machines or the good old fashioned edging shovel?